Wireless Network for Sensor Array

ABSTRACT

A linear wireless sensor network includes network nodes having monotonically varying network node identifiers along each branch of the network. The network identifiers enable the nodes to forward network packets without use of routing tables. Low duty cycle wireless communication protocols enable network packets to be routed to all nodes of very large networks while consuming very little electrical power. Broadcast, rather than unicast, transmissions between nodes take advantage of favorable signal propagation conditions to forward messages using largest possible hops, skipping over nodes when possible. A group of network packets is broadcast and forwarded by a most distant receiving node that received all packets of the group. A receiving node&#39;s clock is automatically adjusted, based on which packet(s) of a group of packets was received. A sending node synchronizes near-by receiving nodes. Nodes are provisioned over-the-air, with built-in scheduling. Health and welfare information piggybacks on other network traffic.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/145,088, filed May 3, 2016, titled “Wireless Network for SensorArray,” which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/697,831, filed Apr. 28, 2015, titled “Wireless Network for SensorArray,” the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated byreference herein, for all purposes

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to wireless computer networks and, moreparticularly, to wireless computer networks for linear arrays of nodes,such as sensors along pipelines or roads.

BACKGROUND ART

Sensor arrays, such as sensors installed along pipelines, highways,railroad tracks or utility lines, are typically designed to operate forlong periods of time, often years, once they have been installed, withlittle or no maintenance. Many such arrays form computer networks ofnodes that communicate wirelessly with each other and ultimately withone or more central controllers (base stations), such as to collectsensor data or meter readings and forward them to the base stations orset sensor parameters or control other remote devices in response tocommands from the base stations. The nodes may be installed indifficult-to-access locations, making maintenance, such as batteryreplacement, difficult and expensive.

Radio transmitters and receivers (transceivers) in the nodes provide thewireless communication between the nodes and between the nodes and thebase stations. These radios can consume significant amounts of electricpower. However, each node typically has a very limited electric energysource, such as a battery that is expected to keep the node operatingfor years, possibly for the entire expected life of the node. In somecases, the nodes are powered by solar, thermal or other types of energyharvesters, whose outputs are relatively small.

Consequently, energy-efficient wireless communication protocols havebeen developed. Most such protocols employ low duty cycles, in which theradios are switched on only periodically and for relatively shortperiods of time. For example, according to the ContikiMAC radio dutycycling protocol, the radios are switched on about eight times persecond. The amount of time during which a radio is on, compared to theamount of time the radio is off, is referred to as the radio's dutycycle. Duty cycles as low as about 0.6% are used. While low duty cycleprotocols save energy, they require nodes to maintain well synchronizedclocks, so the nodes can turn their radios on at the same time or nearlythe same time as their neighbors. Synchronizing clocks among a largenumber of nodes can be quite expensive in terms of energy and computerresource consumption. Improved low duty cycle protocols are, therefore,desirable.

SUMMARY OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention provides a linear sensor network.The linear sensor network includes at least two network nodes and a basestation. The at least two network nodes are logically arranged along abranch. The branch has a first end and a second end. Each network nodeof the at least two network nodes is associated with a respectivenetwork node identifier. The at least two network nodes are logicallyarranged along the branch according to their respective associatednetwork node identifiers. The at least two network nodes are logicallyarranged along the branch, such that the network node identifiers varymonotonically along the branch, from the first end to the second end.The network node identifiers may monotonically increase along thebranch, from the first end to the second end, or the network nodeidentifiers may monotonically decrease along the branch, from the firstend to the second end.

The base station includes a wireless transceiver. The base station isadjacent one end of the branch. A network node identifier is associatedwith the base station.

Each network node stores a representation of its respective network nodeidentifier. Each network node includes a respective sensor and arespective wireless transceiver. Each network node collects data withits sensor and, in response to receiving a command originating at thebase station, transmits the data via its wireless transceiver using atleast one network packet.

Each network node of the at least two network nodes, except a firstnetwork node at one end of the branch and a last network node at theother end of the branch, forwards, via its wireless transceiver, networkpackets. Each network packet is forwarded by a respective succession ofnetwork nodes whose respective network node identifiers varymonotonically along the succession of network nodes.

Each network node may include a network packet source identifier, anetwork packet destination identifier, a network node identifiercomparator and a network packet router. The network packet sourceidentifier is coupled to the wireless transceiver. The network packetsource identifier reads a source network node identifier in a receivednetwork packet. The network packet destination identifier is alsocoupled to the wireless transceiver. The network packet destinationidentifier reads a destination network node identifier in a receivednetwork packet.

The network node identifier comparator is coupled to the network packetsource identifier and to the network packet destination identifier. Thenetwork node identifier comparator compares the stored representation ofthe node's network node identifier to the source network node identifierin the received network packet and to the destination network nodeidentifier in the received network packet.

The network packet router is coupled to the network node identifiercomparator. The network packet router determines whether to considerforwarding the received network packet based on a value of the sourcenetwork node identifier, relative to the representation of the node'snetwork node identifier, and on a value of the destination network nodeidentifier, relative to the representation of the node's network nodeidentifier.

The network packet router may determine whether to consider forwardingthe received network packet without reference to a routing table.

The linear sensor network may also include a packet source anddestination node identifier comparator. The packet source anddestination node identifier comparator is coupled to the network packetsource identifier and to the network packet destination identifier. Thepacket source and destination node identifier comparator compares thesource network node identifier in the received network packet and thedestination network node identifier in the received network packet.

The network packet router may be coupled to the packet source anddestination node identifier comparator. The network packet router maydetermine whether to consider forwarding the received network packetalso based on the value of the source network node identifier, relativeto the value of the destination network node identifier.

Optionally, for each node, except the first network node and the lastnetwork node, the node's location on the branch logically partitions thebranch into a first portion and a second portion, relative to the node.Each network node, except the first network node and the last networknode, forwards, via its wireless transceiver, network packets receivedfrom respective nodes on the first portion of the branch to at least onenode on the second portion of the branch. Each network node, except thefirst network node and the last network node, forwards, via its wirelesstransceiver, network packets received from respective nodes on thesecond portion of the branch to at least one node on the first portionof the branch.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method forforwarding network packets. The method includes arranging at least twonetwork nodes logically along a branch according to respective networknode identifiers associated with respective ones of the at least twonetwork nodes. The branch has a first end and a second end. The networknode identifiers vary monotonically along the branch, from the first endto the second end. The network node identifiers may monotonicallyincrease along the branch, from the first end to the second end, or thenetwork node identifiers may monotonically decrease along the branch,from the first end to the second end.

A base station is disposed adjacent one end of the branch. The basestation includes a wireless transceiver. A network node identifier isassociated with the base station.

A representation of its respective network node identifier is stored ineach network node, such as in a memory of the network node. At eachnetwork node, data is collected using a sensor of the network node. Inat least one of the at least two network nodes, in response to receivinga command originating at the base station, the data is transmitted viathe network node's wireless transceiver using at least one networkpacket.

In each network node of the at least two network nodes, except a firstnetwork node at one end of the branch and a last network node at theother end of the branch, network packets are forwarded, via the networknode's wireless transceiver. Each network packet is forwarded by arespective succession of network nodes whose respective network nodeidentifiers vary monotonically along the succession of network nodes.

A group of packets may be forwarded using a furthest receiving node,i.e., using the biggest possible hop. Yet another embodiment of thepresent invention provides a method for routing at least two packets ina wireless linear network, from a first node, via a second node. Thewireless linear network includes a first node, at least two second nodesproximate the first node and at least two additional nodes, all arrangedalong a branch. Each node has a node identifier. The node identifiersmonotonically vary along the branch, from one end of the branch to theother end of the branch. The at least two packets includes an initialpacket and at least one subsequent packet.

Without necessarily first negotiating time slots with the at least twosecond nodes, the first node wirelessly sequentially broadcasts eachpacket of the plurality of packets. Each packet may be broadcast exactlyonce. Each packet contains a sequence number and an indication of atotal number of packets in the at least two packets. The sequence numberidentifies the packet within the at least two packets.

Each second node wirelessly receives at least one packet of the at leasttwo packets directly from the first node. In response, each second nodewirelessly transmits an acknowledgement message to the first node. Theacknowledgement message contains the node identifier of the second node.The acknowledgement message identifies which at least one packet wasreceived by the second node. The at least two second nodes therebycollectively transmit at least two transmitted acknowledgement messages.

The first node receives at least one acknowledgement message of the atleast two transmitted acknowledgement messages. If, according to the atleast one acknowledgement message received by the first node, at leastone second node received all packets of the at least two packets, thefirst node selects one second node that received all the packets. Thefirst node selects the second node, such that a difference between thenode identifier of the first node and the node identifier of theselected second node is larger than a difference between the nodeidentifier of the first node and the node identifier of any other secondnode that received all the packets. The first node wirelessly transmitsan instruction message to the selected second node, instructing theselected second node to forward the plurality of packets.

Otherwise, within a predetermined number of make-up attempts, the firstnode broadcasts a set of the at least two packets, such that the setincludes packets that were not received by at least one second node.

The set may include a union of packets that were not received by atleast two second nodes.

A similar method may be used to forward a single packet, using afurthest receiving node, i.e., using the biggest possible hop.

Each second node may wirelessly transmit the acknowledgement message tothe first node during a time slot assigned to the second node.

Each second node may wirelessly transmit the acknowledgement messageaccording to a carrier sense multiple access protocol with collisiondetection and/or collision avoidance.

A receiver's clock phase may be adjusted, based on which packets werereceived and/or missed. Each second node may include a clock and awireless transceiver. The method may further include each second nodeadjusting the second node's clock, based on timing of receipt of the atleast one packet of the plurality of packets by the second node. Theclock may be used to control when to turn on the second node's wirelessreceiver and/or when to turn off the wireless receiver.

If the second node did not receive the initial packet, the clock may beadjusted, such that the second node turns on its wireless receiverearlier in a cycle than previously.

If the second node did not receive all packets of the plurality ofpackets, the clock may be adjusted, such that the second node turns onits wireless receiver earlier in a cycle than previously, by an amountthat depends at least in part on a number of packets not received by thesecond node.

Adjusting the clock may include adjusting the clock by an amount thatdepends at least in part on a number of packets not received by thesecond node.

Adjusting the clock may include adjusting the clock by an amount thatdepends at least in part on an amount of time the receiver was on beforethe initial packet was received by the second node.

If the second node received the initial packet, adjusting the clock mayinclude adjusting the clock such that the second node turns on itswireless receiver later in a cycle than previously, by an amount thatdepends at least in part on an amount of time the receiver was on beforethe initial packet was received by the second node.

Nodes near a sender node may synchronize their clocks to the sender. Anembodiment of the present invention provides a method for a first nodeto automatically identify second nodes in a wireless linear network. Inso doing, the first node assigns priorities to the second nodes. Thewireless linear network includes the first node, at least two secondnodes proximate the first node and at least two additional nodes. Allthe nodes are arranged along a branch. Each node includes a wirelesstransmitter and a wireless receiver. Each node has a node identifier.The node identifiers monotonically vary along the branch. The networknode identifiers may monotonically increase along the branch, from thefirst end to the second end, or the network node identifiers maymonotonically decrease along the branch, from the first end to thesecond end.

The first node wirelessly broadcasts at least two time spaced-apartsynchronization messages. The synchronization messages containinformation about at least two transmit time slots. For each transmittime slot, the synchronization messages include information about asingle respective potential second node, to which the transmit time slotis assigned.

Each second node receives at least one of the synchronization messagesdirectly from the first node. Each second node identifies which one ofthe plurality of transmit time slots is assigned to the second node. Inresponse to receiving at least one of the synchronization messages, eachsecond node wirelessly transmits during its assigned transmit time slot.Each second node wirelessly transmits an acknowledgement message thatincludes the second node's identifier. Thus, collectively, the secondnodes transmit a plurality of transmitted acknowledgement messages.

The first node receives at least one acknowledgement message of theplurality of transmitted acknowledgement messages. The first nodeprioritizes a set of the second nodes whose acknowledgement messageswere received by the first node. The prioritization is based at least inpart on the identifiers of the second nodes whose acknowledgementmessages were received by the first node.

Each second node may include a clock. Each second node may adjust itsclock, based on timing of receipt by the second node of at least one ofthe plurality of synchronization messages. Each second node may use theclock to control when to turn on its wireless receiver and/or when toturn off the wireless receiver.

Each second node may include a clock. Each second node may adjust itsclock, based on timing of receipt by the second node of at least one ofthe plurality of synchronization messages. Each second node may use theclock to control when the second node enters a sleep state and/or whenthe second node wakes from the sleep state.

Prioritizing the set of second nodes may include, for each second nodeof the set of second nodes, assigning a priority to the second nodebased on a difference between the second node's identifier and the firstnode's identifier. A second node with a larger difference may beassigned a higher priority than a second node with a smaller difference.

In addition, for each second node in the set of second nodes, the firstnode may wirelessly transmit a prioritization message. Theprioritization message may contain the priority assigned to the secondnode. The prioritization message may be transmitted during a receivetime slot assigned to the second node.

After transmitting the prioritization message, the first node maytransmit a synchronization confirmation request message. In response toreceiving the synchronization confirmation request message, each secondnode in the set of second nodes may transmit a synchronizationacknowledgement message during a respective time slot associated withthe priority assigned to the second node.

The first node may store, in a memory, information about each secondnode in the set of second nodes. The information may include the nodeidentifier of the second node and the priority assigned to the secondnode.

Over-the-air provisioning with built-in scheduling may be provided.Another embodiment of the present invention provides a method forupdating the nodes in a network that includes at least two nodes. Atleast two messages are sent in the network. Each message contains updateinformation and an indication of a future time.

Each node of the network receives at least one of the at least twomessages. Each node of the network stores the update informationcontained in the at least one of the at least two messages. At thefuture time, each node of the network uses the stored update informationto update the node.

Each node of the network may initiate a request to be awakened at thefuture time.

Each message may also contain an indication of a type of update. Eachnode may use the stored update information to update the node only ifthe node conforms to the type of update.

Each node may store the update information only if the node conforms tothe type of update.

Health and welfare information may be “piggybacked” on other types ofnetwork packets. Yet another embodiment of the present inventionprovides a method for sending first network status information within awireless linear sensor network of nodes. The wireless linear sensornetwork is communicatively coupled via a central controller to anothernetwork. One of the nodes collects the first network status information.The one of the nodes wirelessly receives a message from another one ofthe nodes. The one of the nodes stores the first network statusinformation in the message, thereby producing a modified message. Theone of the nodes wirelessly transmits the modified message.

The message may be devoid of any network status information, at leastprior to being modified.

The message may contain second network status information. The one ofthe nodes compares the second network status information to the firstnetwork status information. Storing the first network status informationin the message, thereby producing the modified message, may includestoring the first network status information in the message, therebyproducing the modified message only if the first network statusinformation is more significant, according to a predetermined comparisonscheme, than the second network status information.

Multiple network segments may be included in a wireless sensor network,each with its own time slot. An embodiment of the present inventionprovides a wireless sensor network. The network includes at least twonetwork segments and a base station. Each network segment includes atleast two respective nodes. Each node is a member of exactly one networksegment. Each node includes a respective sensor and a respectivewireless transceiver. Each node uses its wireless transceiver totransmit data derived from its sensor. Each node is disposed withinwireless communication range of at least one other node of itsrespective network segment. Each node includes one of: (i) a first nodeof the network segment, (ii) a last node of the network segment or (iii)an intermediate node of the network segment. The first node and eachintermediate node uses its transceiver to forward data it receives froma node of the network segment that is network-topologically more distantfrom the first node to a node of the network segment that isnetwork-topologically closer to the first node. That is, all but thelast node forward packets toward the base station.

The base station includes a wireless transceiver. The base station isdisposed within wireless communication range of the first node of eachnetwork segment. The base station uses its wireless transceiver toreceive data collected from the plurality of nodes' sensors. Each nodeoperates according to a repeating time interval. Each time interval isdivided into a plurality of time slots. Each network segment isassociated with a unique time slot of the plurality of time slots. Eachnode transmits the data collected from its sensor during the time slotassociated with the node's network segment and enters a power-savingsleep state during a remainder of each time interval.

Each time slot may be sufficiently long to enable sensor data to beforwarded from the last node to the base station within one day.

Each power saving sleep state may be at least as long as a sum of N−1time slots, where N equals the number of time slots in each timeinterval.

Each time slot may be divided into at least two sub-slots. Each node:(a) uses its wireless transceiver during a sub-slot to receive sensordata from another node of the node's network segment, the another nodebeing more distal from the base station than the node, and (b) uses thewireless transceiver during a subsequent sub-slot to forward the sensordata toward the base station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be more fully understood by referring to thefollowing Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments in conjunctionwith the Drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of several hypothetical linearnetworks, according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of wireless broadcasting by a nodeof a hypothetical linear network, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a network packet, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic flowchart illustrating network node routingdecisions, without a routing table, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of network packet routing logic in anetwork node, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are schematic diagrams of a large message beingpartitioned into a set of hypothetical smaller network packets,according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are schematic illustrations of time slot allocationschemes, according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram, similar to FIG. 2, illustratingacknowledgement messages sent by receiving nodes in a hypotheticallinear network, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 schematically depicts a time slot during which network packetsare broadcast, relative to times during which receiving nodes' receiversare on, as part of clock synchronization, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram, similar to FIG. 2, illustratinghow network status information is sent by “piggybacking” on a sensordata network packet, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of one of the hypothetical linearnetworks of FIG. 1, showing network node identifiers, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a hypothetical linear networkthat includes several network segments and several branches, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a schematic timing diagram illustrating hypothetical timeintervals, time slots and time sub-slots, according to embodiments ofthe present invention.

FIG. 16 is a schematic timing diagram illustrating operation of thelinear network of FIG. 14, according to the timing diagram of FIG. 15,according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram of several hypothetical nodes of alinear network, according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 18A and 18B is a timing diagram schematically illustrating afour-phase synchronization protocol, as may be used by the nodes of FIG.17, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 19 is a state diagram schematically illustrating states of a nodeand state transitions of the four-phase synchronization protocol,according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of a network node, according to anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, methods andapparatus are disclosed for constructing and operating wireless linearsensor networks, including wireless communication protocols for use bynodes of the wireless networks. A linear wireless sensor networkincludes network nodes having monotonically varying network nodeidentifiers along each branch of the network. The network identifiersenable the nodes to forward network packets without use of routingtables. Low duty cycle wireless communication protocols enable networkpackets to be routed to all nodes of very large networks while consumingvery little electrical power. Broadcast, rather than unicast,transmissions between nodes take advantage of favorable signalpropagation conditions to forward messages using largest possible hops,skipping over nodes when possible, as well as automatically adapting totime- or spatially-varying radio propagation conditions. Nodessynchronize their clocks with their neighbors' clocks, withoutnecessarily exchanging packets dedicated to clock synchronization.

Linear Networks, Monotonically Assigned Node Identifiers and Routing

Some embodiments of the present invention were inspired by a realizationthat, unlike most conventional computer networks, wireless sensor arraysand other arrays of wireless network nodes are often constructed withmost or all their network nodes arranged along straight or curved lines,such as streets, pipelines or railroad tracks, with one or a smallnumber of branches, i.e., zero or a small number of forks, compared to atotal number of nodes, and that these arrays and networks are relativelystatic. Each node is one node in a line of nodes. However, the nodesneed not be equidistantly distributed along the line. As used herein, anode's “neighbor” is a node on the same line and within wireless radiocommunication range of the node. Such a network is referred to herein asa “linear network.” Linear networks are further described below.

The number of neighbors may vary as a node's radio propagation distancevaries, such as between day and night or as the node's battery chargelevel varies. However, once the network is installed, the networktopology, i.e., the arrangement of nodes along the line, typically doesnot change, or it changes infrequently compared to a rate of change in atypical local area network (LAN) in an office or on a factory floor. Ina typical installation, the topology of a line of nodes remains constantfor years. “Topology” or “network topology” here refers to thearrangement of nodes along a line of nodes, taking into considerationpossible wireless communication links between pairs of nodes.

With the possible exception of a small number of nodes at or near eachend of the line of nodes, each node of the line has relatively fewneighbors, typically about six or fewer. The nodes at or near the endsof the line have fewer neighbors, in some cases only one neighbor.

From the perspective of each node, the node partitions its line of nodesinto two portions. Typically about half of a node's neighbors are on oneportion of the line, i.e., on one side of the node, i.e.,network-topologically closer to one end of the line, and the other abouthalf of the node's neighbors are on the other side of the node, i.e.network topologically closer to the other end of the line. A nodeexchanges all network traffic with nodes on one portion of the line viaits neighbors on the corresponding side of the node, and it exchangesall network traffic with nodes on the other portion of the line via itsneighbors on the other side of the node. A node's “nearest neighbor” isa neighbor that is closest to the node. All nodes, except the first andlast node on a line, have exactly two nearest neighbors. The nodes atthe ends of the line have one or more neighbors on only one side andexactly one nearest neighbor each.

Nodes forward network messages, as necessary. A typical line of nodesmay contain tens, hundreds, thousands or more of nodes. Consequently,most network messages are forwarded many times before they reach theirultimate destinations.

If a first node is communicatively coupled to a third node via a secondnode, the first node is network-topologically adjacent the second node,but not network-topologically adjacent the third node. The first node isnetwork-topologically closer to the second node than to the third node.

As used herein, “node” and “network node” are synonymous. As usedherein, a branch is a strictly linear portion of a linear network, i.e.,an unforked portion of the network. A linear network may include one ormore branches. If a sensor network includes or is connected to a basestation, for most nodes of a given branch of the network, some of theirneighbors are network-topologically closer to the base station, and theother neighbors are network-topologically further from the base station.Typically, one node (sometimes referred to as a “first node”) of thebranch is network-topologically adjacent a base station, as well asbeing adjacent one other node of the network. Typically one other node,i.e., an “end node,” is located at the other end of a line of nodes,i.e., the other end of the branch, and is network-topologically adjacentonly one other node. Branches are discussed in more detail herein.

As noted, such networks are referred to herein as linear networks. Asused herein, a linear network has a node-to-branch ratio of at least50:1. According to the present disclosure, existing wirelesscommunication protocols, such as 6LoWPAN (IPv6 over Low power WirelessPersonal Area Networks), are modified, and new protocols areimplemented, to take advantage of the linear nature of these networks tosupport more nodes, be more responsive and to operate more energyefficiently than according to conventional communication protocols.Nodes and networks that operate according to the improved protocols arealso described.

FIG. 1 contains schematic representations of several hypothetical linearnetworks 100, 102 and 104. Not all nodes are shown, as indicated byellipses. For example, four nodes 106, 108, 110 and 112 of the linearnetwork 100 are all arranged along a single branch, represented by adotted line 114. Linear network 102 includes three branches 116, 118 and120, and linear network 104 includes three branches 122, 124 and 126.Note that branches 116, 118 and 120 have one or more nodes in common.For example, Node 1 is a member of branch 116, 118 and 120, and Node 10is a member of branch 118 and 120. In some embodiments, nodes that arecommon between or among multiple branches have multiple network nodeidentifiers, one for each branch, as discussed below.

Although each of the linear networks 100-104 has at least one basestation 128, 130, 132 and 134, respectively, a base station is notrequired for a linear network. Base stations are also referred to hereinas “edge routers” and “central controllers” and may connect a linearnetwork, such as linear network 100, 102 or 104, to another network,exemplified by a local area network (LAN) or wide area network (WAN)136, such as an Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) network.

Each node 106-112, Node 1, Node 2, etc. includes a sensor (not shown),such as a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor or a magnetometer. Inmany cases, a base station, such as base station 128, sends commands tonodes, such as commands to node 110, to collect data and returncollected data to the base station 128.

Radio transmitters and receivers (transceivers, not shown in FIG. 1) inthe nodes 106-112, Node 1, Node 2, etc. provide wireless communicationbetween the nodes and between the nodes and the base stations 128, 130,132. Due to limited radio ranges of the transceivers, some of thesecommands may need to be forwarded, from node to node, such as by one ormore of nodes 106 and 108, along a branch, before reaching theirrespective destination nodes. Similarly, data sent by a node may need tobe forwarded along the branch to the base station.

Power consumption constraints on the radios in the nodes limit radiorange of the radios. Each node may be able to directly wirelesslycommunicate with only a relatively small number of nearby nodes,possibly only two nearest neighbors, rather than with all or most of therest of the nodes of the network. Most nodes are too distant from a basestation to wirelessly communicate directly with the base station. Evenhigh-powered transmitters in the base station may not be able to reachdistant nodes. Consequently, many messages must be forwarded many times(“hops”), by an equal number of intermediate nodes, before reachingtheir destinations, particularly messages between the base station andnodes far out along a branch. Each hop contributes to message latency.

However, as noted, according to embodiments of the present invention,communication protocols and nodes may be configured in ways to takeadvantage of the linear nature of these networks, particularly if nodesare monotonically numbered along each branch. In the following examples,the nodes are numbered such that their respective node numbers (networknode identifiers) monotonically increase along a branch, in a directionaway from a base node, from one end of the branch to the other end ofthe branch. Alternatively, a node numbering scheme in which the nodenumbers monotonically decrease along this direction may be used. As willbe seen, either type of monotonic node identification scheme facilitatesmaking routing decisions by nodes that receive messages, withoutrequiring routing tables.

As used herein, “varying network node identifiers monotonically along abranch,” from a first end to a second end, means either monotonicallyincreasing the network node identifiers along a direction away from abase node, from the first end of the branch to the second end of thebranch, or monotonically decreasing the network node identifiers alongthe direction away from a base node, from the first end of the branch tothe second end of the branch.

For example, as schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, assume ten nodes ofa linear network 200 are assigned network node identifiers N1-N10 thatmonotonically increase along a network branch 202. Of course, the branch202 includes many more nodes. A base station 204 may also have anassociated network node identifier, such as zero. Each node N1-N10includes a transceiver for wirelessly communicating with other nodesN1-10 and, for some of the nodes, with the base station 204. In manycontexts, given the transceivers' power and sensitivity and nodeplacement, it is expected that each node N1-10 is within radio range ofabout three nodes in each direction, along the branch 202.

If a node N4 broadcasts a message destined to a node N9 located furtherout along the broadcasting node's branch 202, and nodes (for example,nodes N2, N3, N5, N6 and N7) on both sides of the broadcasting node N4receive the message, the receiving nodes N2 and N3 with node numbers (inthis example 2 and 3, respectively) less than the broadcasting node'snumber (4) can ignore the message, because they are further from thedestination node N9 than the broadcasting node N4. Forwarding themessage to either node N2 or N3 would be counterproductive. On the otherhand, receiving nodes N5, N6 and N7 with node numbers (in this example5, 6 and 7, respectively) larger than the broadcasting node's number (4)are potential forwarding nodes, because these nodes are closer to thedestination node N9 than the broadcasting node N4. The potentialforwarding nodes' node numbers are all greater than the broadcastingnode's node number.

Nodes N1-N10 communicate by sending and receiving network packets. FIG.3 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary network packet 300. The networkpacket 300 includes a node number 302 (4 in the example of FIG. 2) ofthe broadcasting node N4 (a “source node identifier”) and a node number304 (9 in the example of FIG. 2) of the intended destination node N9 (a“destination node identifier”). The network packet 300 may also includeother header information 306 and a payload 308. The payload 308 mayinclude one or more commands, such as a command instructing a particularnode to collect data with its sensor, and/or data, such as collecteddata being sent from a node to a base station.

Based on information in a network packet 300, each node that receivesthe network packet can automatically determine a direction, i.e., awayfrom the base station or toward the base station, in which the networkpacket should be routed. If the destination node identifier 304 isgreater than the source node identifier 302, the message should berouted in a direction away from the base station. On the other hand, ifthe destination node identifier 304 is less than the source nodeidentifier 302, the message should be routed in a direction toward thebase station. Of course, if the alternative node numbering schemedescribed above, in which node numbers monotonically increase along adirection toward the base station, the routing directions are reversed.

Furthermore, based on information in the network packet 300 and areceiving node's own node identifier number, each receiving node canautomatically determine whether to ignore the message or store a copy ofthe message for potential forwarding. As noted with respect to FIG. 2,nodes with node identifier numbers less than a transmitting node'sidentifier can safely ignore messages destined to nodes having nodeidentifier numbers greater than that of the transmitting node.Similarly, nodes with node identifier numbers greater than atransmitting node's identifier can safely ignore messages destined tonodes having node identifier numbers less than that of the transmittingnode. If a node cannot safely ignore a received message, the node shouldstore the message, in case the node is called upon to forward themessage along the network, as described herein. Of course, if areceiving node's identifying number equals the destination nodeidentifier number, the receiving node should process the message'scommand, data, etc.

Each node is provisioned with its own network node identificationnumber. Each node therefore stores a representation of its respectivenetwork node identifier, such as in a memory. During a start-up phase,the network nodes execute an automatic neighbor discovery process andforward to the base station(s) information about the network branch'stopology.

With renewed reference to FIG. 3, if the destination node number 304 (9)is greater than the broadcasting node's number 302 (4), indicatingrouting in a direction away from the base node, receiving nodes N2 andN3 having node numbers (2 and 3) less than the broadcasting node'snumber (4) can safely ignore the message 300, whereas receiving nodesN5, N6 and N7 having node numbers (5, 6 and 7) greater than thebroadcasting node's number (4), but less than the destination nodenumber (9), are potential forwarding nodes.

Furthermore, if more than one potential forwarding node N5, N6 and N7receives the broadcast, the highest numbered node N7 among the receivernodes is furthest along the branch, i.e., closest to the destinationnode N9, and could, therefore, be selected by the broadcasting node N4to forward the message, thereby skipping over nodes N5 and N6. By thismechanism, each hop can move the message as far as possible, in terms ofnumber of nodes along the branch, within radio range of the broadcastingnode N4. Thus broadcasting, rather than transmitting a network packet toa specific one or more intended receiver (unicasting or multicasting),takes advantage of favorable propagation conditions, when they exist. Incontrast, prior art networks forward messages only one node per hop orthey transmit packets to only one or more specified receiver nodes. Theimprovement presented here over the prior art is made possible bybroadcasting and by monotonically numbering the nodes along the lengthof each network branch. These and other structural features ofembodiments improve network efficiency, reduce power consumption andprovide other benefits.

It should be noted that the nodes of a branch need no routing tables tomake routing decisions. A simple comparison between a network packet'ssource 302 (FIG. 3) and destination 304 node identifiers indicates adirection, i.e., toward or away from a base station, in which thenetwork packet 300 should travel along the branch. Once the networkpacket's travel direction has been determined, simple comparisonsbetween a receiving node's network identifier and the network packet'ssource and destination node identifiers indicate whether the receivingnode is a potential forwarding node. Essentially, network packets are“self-routing,” in that they contain information that makes routingdecisions almost trivial for the nodes.

FIG. 4 contains a flowchart illustrating how network nodes can makerouting decisions, without a routing table. At 400, if a receivednetwork packet's destination node identifier 304 (FIG. 3) is greaterthan its source network node identifier 302, the network packet's traveldirection is away from the base station and control passes to 402,otherwise the travel direction is toward the base station and controlpasses to 404. At 402, if the receiving network node's networkidentifier is greater than the source network node identifier 302,control passes to 406, otherwise the receiving network node is on the“other side” of the source network node and not in a position toefficiently forward the network packet, in which case control passes to408, where the network packet is ignored. At 406, if the receivingnetwork node's network identifier is less than the destination nodeidentifier 304, the receiving node is a forwarding candidate and controlpasses to 410, otherwise the receiving node is “beyond” the destinationnetwork node and can ignore the received network packet, in which casecontrol passes to 408.

For network packets traveling toward the base station, at 404, if thereceiving network node's network identifier is less than the sourcenetwork node identifier 302, control passes to 412, otherwise thereceiving network node is on the “other side” of the source network nodeand not in a position to efficiently forward the network packet, inwhich case control passes to 408, where the network packet is ignored.At 412, if the receiving network node's network identifier is greaterthan the destination node identifier 304, the receiving node is aforwarding candidate and control passes to 410, otherwise the receivingnode is “beyond” the destination network node, i.e., too close to thebase station, and can ignore the received network packet, in which casecontrol passes to 408.

This flowchart assumes network node identifiers monotonically increasealong the branch in a direction away from the base station. If thenetwork node identifiers monotonically increase in a direction towardthe base station, the senses of the comparisons in 402, 404, 406 and 412are reversed.

FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of a network node 500, according toan embodiment of the present invention. In some embodiments, blocks ofFIG. 5 implement the network packet routing logic described herein, withrespect to the flowchart of FIG. 4. A wireless transceiver 502 receivestransmissions, typically broadcast transmissions, from a base stationand other nodes. For received transmissions that include networkpackets, a network packet source identifier 504 examines ones of thereceived network packets to identify the network node identifiers of thenodes or base station that transmitted the network packets. Similarly, anetwork packet destination identifier 506 examines ones of the receivednetwork packets to identify the network node identifiers of the nodes orbase station, to which the network packets are destined.

A network packet source and destination identifiers comparator 508compares the source and destination network identifiers identified bythe network packet source identifier 504 and the network packetdestination identifier 506. For each received network packet, thenetwork packet source and destination identifiers comparator 508determines in which direction, i.e., toward the base station or awayfrom the base station, the network packet is to be forwarded.

A network node identifier comparator 510 compares a storedrepresentation 512 of the receiving network node's network identifier tothe source network identifiers and to the destination networkidentifiers. For each received network packet, the network nodeidentifier comparator 510 determines whether the receiving network nodeis: (a) between the transmitting network node and the destination node,(b) “before” the transmitting network node or (c) “beyond” thedestination network node, relative to the direction in which the networkpacket is to be forwarded.

A network packet router 514 determines whether to consider forwarding agiven received network packet based on: (a) the value of the sourcenetwork node identifier, relative to the value of the destinationnetwork node identifier, (b) the value of the source network nodeidentifier, relative to the representation of the node's network nodeidentifier, and (c) the value of the destination network nodeidentifier, relative to the representation of the node's network nodeidentifier.

As noted, no routing table is needed for the network packet router 514to determine whether to consider forwarding the received network packet.For example, the comparisons and determinations may be as described,with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.

Unlike the prior art, network packet routing logic according toembodiments of the present invention does not depend on the number ofnodes in a network or a branch. The logic depicted in FIG. 4 isindependent of the number of nodes in a network or a branch. It shouldbe noted that sensor networks, according to embodiments of the presentinvention, may include thousands of network nodes or more, even millionsof network nodes. On the other hand, prior art routing algorithms relyon routing tables, whose sizes depend on network sizes.

Memory sizes in nodes of sensor networks are typically constrained.Therefore, storing large routing tables poses problems for sensornetworks. In addition, electrical power available for the memories, andfor processors that execute instructions, is typically limited in nodesof sensor networks. Therefore, adding to, deleting from and traversingentries in a routing table pose problems for sensor networks. Given thepower and memory constraints in conventional sensor network nodes, up toonly about 10-30 nodes can be supported by prior art routing tables.These and other problems are solved by embodiments of the presentinvention.

Using the routing logic described herein, nodes along a branch forwardnetwork packets to their destinations, often utilizing a series of hops,exemplified by hops 206, 208 and 210 (FIG. 2). For example, the basestation 204 may broadcast a network packet. The highest numbered nodethat receives the broadcast (N4) may forward the network packet bybroadcasting it. The highest numbered node that receives the node'sbroadcast (N7) may forward the network packet, etc., until the networkpacket is received by the destination node (N10), as specified in thedestination node identifier field 304 (FIG. 3) of the network packet.

After a node, for example node N7, receives a network packet, the nodeN7 can be thought of as partitioning the network branch 202 into twoportions, one portion 212 (FIG. 2) extending from the base station 204to the network node N6, which in this example is the node's N7 nearestneighbor, on the base station side, and the other portion 214 extendingfrom the other nearest neighbor N8 to the other end of the branch. Eachnetwork node, except the first network node N1 and the last networknode, forwards packets received from nodes in the first portion 212 ofthe branch to nodes in the other portion 214, and it forwards networkpackets received from nodes in the other portion 214 to nodes in thefirst portion 212.

Other network packets, such as network packets with commands from thebase station 204 to one or more nodes N1-N10 along the branch 202 ornetwork packets with sensor data sent by one or more nodes N1-N10 to thebase station 204, are forwarded along the branch 202. In this way, eachnetwork packet is forwarded by a respective succession of network nodeswhose respective network node identifiers vary monotonically along thesuccession of network nodes. That is, each network packet is forwardedby a succession of network nodes (N4 and N7 in the example above). Thenetwork node identifiers of each succession of nodes variesmonotonically along the path of each network packet. For example, thenetwork identifiers of these nodes N4 and N7 increase monotonicallyalong the path of the network packet, from the base station 204 to thedestination node N9.

When designing or provisioning a linear network, it may be prudent toassign to adjacent nodes node identifier numbers that are different bymore than one. Skipping node identifier numbers in this way facilitateslater adding nodes between previously adjacent nodes, withoutrenumbering existing nodes. As noted, the disclosed routing logic isindependent of the number of network nodes. Therefore, if nodes areadded or deleted from a network, the routing logic need not be changed,and no routing tables need to be revised.

Many factors can influence radio range. For example, power supplyvoltage may affect transmitter power output and receiver sensitivity.Radio noise from nearby heavy equipment may interfere with radioreception, limiting receivers to receiving only strong signals fromnearby nodes. Radio signal propagation may vary between daytime andnighttime, for example due to atmospheric changes. It should be notedthat as radio range varies over time, such as between daytime andnighttime or as a result of variations in battery voltage orintermittent radio noise, the protocol discussed with respect to FIG. 2automatically adapts and skips as many nodes as possible at the time ofeach hop. The number of nodes skipped for a given message may also varyspatially, i.e., along the branch 202, such as due to differences inlocal noise levels or sunlight available to energy harvesters.

Low Duty Cycle Communication Protocols

Some radio duty cycling protocols support relatively small maximumpacket sizes. However, if a relatively large amount of data is to besent along a wireless linear network, the data may be partitioned(fragmented) into several packets, so as to conform to a wirelessprotocol's maximum packet size, and the packets may be sentsequentially. For example, the ContikiMAC protocol allows maximum packetsizes much smaller than IPv6 packets, and a linear network may be calledupon to carry network traffic from an IPv6 network. IPv6 packets may,therefore, be fragmented and sent using a plurality of ContikiMAC-likepackets. For example, the base station 132 (FIG. 1) may receive an IPv6packet from the WAN or LAN 136 and fragment the packet into a pluralityof smaller ContikiMAC-like packets for transmission to one or more ofthe nodes (Node 1, . . . Node 21) of the network 104.

Sending a plurality of packets as a series of successive closely-spaced(in time) packets can be energy efficient, because once a receiver nodeturns on its radio, the receiver can receive successive packets untilthe transmitting node stops transmitting packets, or at least until thereceiving node stops receiving packets. The receiving node can sent anacknowledgement after receiving the last sequential packet, rather thanafter receiving each packet of the series.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a series ofpackets is transmitted by a node, each packet of the series contains apacket sequence number identifying the packet within the series ofpackets and an indication of a total number of packets in the series ofpackets, as exemplified in FIG. 6. Here, a large message 600 isfragmented into a series of packets exemplified by packets 602, 604 and606.

Although the large message 600 may be sent as a packet in anothernetwork, such as via an IPv6 network, in the interest of clarity it isreferred to in this example as a “large message,” and smaller packets602-606 sent via a linear network are referred to as “packets.”Furthermore, it should be noted that a series of packets need notnecessarily represent fragments of a larger message. For example, eachpacket of a series of packets may be destined to a different node, or itmay be otherwise independent of other packets of the series of packets.

With continued reference to FIG. 6, the packet sequence number may be anumber relative to the initial packet. For example, the initial packetmay be numbered 1, and each successive packet of the series may benumbered 2, 3, 4, etc. That is, each series of packets begins withpacket sequence number 1. The indication of the total number of packetsin the series may be equal to the packet sequence number of the finalpacket of the plurality of packets. Of course, alternatively, zero-basednumbering, or another packet numbering scheme, may be used.

Alternatively, as exemplified in FIG. 7, packets 702-706 may be numberedsuch that the sequence numbers span more than one series. In thesecases, each packet should contain the sequence number of the initialpacket of the series and the total number of packets in the series, orthe sequence number of the last packet of the series and the totalnumber of packets in the series, or the sequence number of the initialpacket and the sequence number of the last packet in the series or someother combination of information that enables a receiver to calculatehow many packets are in the series (i.e., each packet should contain anindication of a total number of packets in the plurality of packets) andthe current packet's position, relative to the beginning of the seriesof packets (i.e., each packet should contain a sequence numberidentifying the packet within the plurality of packets).

Forwarding a Group of Related Network Packets

As discussed with respect to FIG. 2, embodiments of the presentinvention forward network packets by broadcasting, so the networkpackets can be forwarded as far as possible in each hop. In someembodiments, all network nodes that receive a network packet broadcast,and that are candidates for forwarding the received network packet (forexample, nodes N5, N6 and N7 in FIG. 2), send acknowledgement messagesback to the broadcasting node N4 identifying themselves, so thebroadcasting node N4 can select one of the receiving nodes to be theforwarding node. Other things being equal, the broadcasting node N4selects the receiving node (N7 in this example) that is furthest fromthe broadcasting node N4, but generally not a node that is beyond thedestination node (N9 in this example).

In some embodiments, each node is allocated a time slot during which itmay broadcast, so as to prevent interference from other nodes. Anexemplary time slot allocation scheme is depicted schematically in FIG.8. In this example, during Time Slot 0, a base station may transmit.During Time Slot 1, node N1 may transmit. During Time Slot 2, node N2may transmit, etc. Additional time slots may be added for additionalbase stations, if necessary. The group 800 of time slots repeats.Optionally, a delay time 802 is incurred between repetitions of thegroup of time slots. During the delay time 802, some nodes may use theirrespective sensors to collect data and/or enter power-saving sleepstates. All time slots may, but need not, be of equal duration. Forexample, Time Slot 0 may be longer than each of the other time slots topermit the base station to send more messages or longer messages thaneach of the network nodes may send.

For long branches, where broadcasts from nodes far from the base stationare not likely to interfere with broadcasts from nodes proximate thebase station, time slots may be shared by multiple nodes. For example,if broadcasts are not likely to propagate a distance spanned by “n”nodes, the time slot allocation scheme depicted schematically in FIG. 9may be used. In this example, every “n” nodes along the branch share acommon time slot. Thus, the number of time slots may be less than thenumber of nodes on a branch.

Returning again to FIG. 2, and with continued reference to FIGS. 8 and9, assume a broadcasting node, for example node N4, is sending orforwarding a network packet destined to node N9. Node N4 broadcasts thenetwork packet during its time slot, and nodes N5, N6 and N7 receive thebroadcast. During their respective time slots (during the current group800 of time slots or, alternatively, during a subsequent group 800 oftime slots), nodes N5, N6 and N7 broadcast respective acknowledgementmessages, indicating their respective network node identifiers andacknowledging receipt of the network packet. The acknowledgementmessages are addressed to node N4, and node N4 receives the plurality ofacknowledgment messages.

Node N4 selects one of the nodes (N5, N6 or N7) as a forwarding node,and during node N4's subsequent time slot, node N4 broadcasts a messageindicating the selected node. This broadcast message may be thought ofas passing a token to the selected forwarding node. As noted, otherthings being equal, node N4 selects the node furthest along the branch,toward the destination node N9, that is not beyond the destination nodeN9. For this example, assume node N7 is selected.

Upon receiving the token, node N7 repeats the process previous performedby node N4, and so on, until node N9 receives the network packet.Optionally, node N7 acknowledges receipt of the token, such as bysending a second acknowledgement message or by including anacknowledgement in its broadcast of the network packet. Presumably, nodeN4 receives the broadcast of the network packet and, therefore, receivesconfirmation that the network packet has been forwarded, or at leastthat node N4 now has the token and, therefore, it has responsibility forforwarding the network packet.

As noted with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7, sending a plurality of networkpackets as a series of successive closely-spaced (in time) packets canbe energy efficient. In some embodiments, multiple network packets arebroadcast by a single network node during a single time slot to takeadvantage of this energy efficiency. For example, with reference toFIGS. 8 and 9, multiple network packets may be broadcast by a singlenetwork node during a single time slot. However, not all network nodesthat receive the broadcast may receive all the network packets. Forexample, bursty local electromagnetic interference (EMI) may preventsome of the receiving nodes receiving all the network packets. Inanother example, some of the nodes may wake from a power-saving sleepstate too late to receive all the network packets, or some nodes mayenter the power-saving sleep state before receiving all the networkpackets.

In some embodiments, the nodes that receive any of the network packetsthen broadcast acknowledgement messages that indicate their respectivenetwork node identifiers and which network packet(s) they received. Forexample, assume the network packets 702-706 (FIG. 7), i.e., networkpacket sequence numbers 3792-3848, are broadcast by node N4 (FIG. 2) andsome or all of the network packets are received by each of nodes N5, N6and N7, as shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 10 schematically illustrates thisexample, in which node N5 receives network packet sequence numbers3795-3838, node N6 receives network packet sequence numbers 3792-3848and node N7 receives network packet sequence numbers 3792-3794 and 3840.

In their respective acknowledgement messages 1000, 1002 and 1004, nodesN5, N6 and N7 indicate their respective network node identifiers andwhich network packet sequence numbers they received. (Unlike in FIG. 2,symbols indicating radiation from antennas of the nodes N5, N6 and N7 donot indicate propagation distance in FIG. 10.) Thus, collectively, nodesN5, N6 and N7 broadcast a plurality of acknowledgement messages, andnode N4 receives this plurality of acknowledgement messages. Theacknowledgement messages may be broadcast during the respectivereceiving nodes' (N5, N6 and N7) time slots. Optionally oralternatively, all the acknowledging nodes may vie for access to abroadcast medium according to a carrier sense, multiple access protocolwith collision detection and/or collision avoidance.

If at least one of nodes N5, N6 and N7 receives all the network packets,node N4 selects the node that receives all the network packets and isfurthest along the branch 202 toward the destination node N9. In thiscase, a difference between the node identifier of the broadcasting nodeN4 and the node identifier of the selected node (N5, N6 or N7) is largerthan a difference between the node identifier of the broadcasting nodeN4 and the node identifier of any other nodes that receive all thepackets (N5, N6 or N7). In the example of FIG. 10, only one node N6received all the network packets. The broadcasting node N4 thenbroadcasts a message passing the token to the selected node, i.e., nodeN6 in the example of FIG. 10.

However, if none of the receiving nodes N5, N6 and N7 receive all thepackets of the group of packets, the broadcasting node N4 determines aset of “make-up” packets and broadcasts the make-up packets. The set ofmake-up packets includes at least the packets not received by at leastone of the nodes N5, N6 and N7 that acknowledge receiving at least oneof the network packets. The make-up packets may be selected based onwhich node failed to receive the fewest network packets, which packetsthe furthest acknowledging node failed to receive, which packets werenot received by the furthest acknowledging node that failed to receivefewer than half the packets or some other selection criterion. Themake-up set may include a union of the network packets that were notreceived by at least two of the acknowledging nodes, such as the twoacknowledging nodes that received the largest number of network packetsor the two acknowledging nodes that are furthest along the branch in thedirection of the destination node. The broadcasting node N4 may limitthe number of times it sends make-up packets.

Although network packets 702-706 (FIG. 7) were used in this example,some subset of the network packets 702-706 may be sent as a group duringone time slot. The group of packets sent by the broadcasting node duringone time slot need not be part or all of a larger message 700. Thenetwork packets in the group send during one time slot may be unrelatedto each other, such as network packets that are not part of the largermessage 700. In addition, other network packet numbering schemes may beused, as discussed with respect to FIG. 6. Thus, some or all of thenetwork packets 602-606, and/or other network packets not shown in FIG.6, may form the group of packets sent during one time slot.

In some embodiments, 32 network packets are sent during one time slot.In some embodiments, 2-32 network packets are sent during one time slot.Other numbers of network packets per time slot may be sent. It should benoted that no negotiation is conducted between a broadcasting networknode and potential receiving network nodes, prior to broadcastingmultiple network packets. Instead, the broadcasting network node merelybroadcasts the multiple network packets, and then the broadcastingnetwork node “fills in” the network packets missed by one or morereceiving nodes.

Alternatively, in some embodiments, the broadcasting does not fill inthe missing network packets. Instead, the broadcasting node merelypasses the token to one of the receiving nodes, with respect to thenetwork packets received by the receiving node. Then, the broadcastingnode broadcasts the missing network packets as a new transaction.

It should be noted that according to conventional communicationprotocols, unicast and multicast messages typically requireacknowledgment, but broadcast messages do not require acknowledgements.In contrast, embodiments of the present invention requireacknowledgments of broadcast messages, which is not taught or suggestedby the prior art.

Adjusting Node Clock Phase, Based on Received/Missed Packets

Each network node includes a clock that facilitates determining thebeginning and end of the time slot (FIGS. 8 and 9) assigned to thenetwork node, when to turn the node's wireless receiver on and off, aswell as when to enter a power-saving sleep state and when to wake thenode from the power-saving sleep state. Although separate clocks orother circuits may be used for these functions, for simplicity ofexplanation, all these clocks and circuits are collectively referred toherein as a single clock in each network node. The various network nodeclocks should be reasonably synchronized with each other, at least withother network nodes within radio range, and in some cases clocks in anybase stations. However, partially due to the limited energy supply ofeach network node, the network node clocks are likely to drift, withrespect to each other and with respect to the clock in the basestation(s).

Prior art communication protocols that require synchronized clocksinclude methods for synchronizing clocks. However, these prior artmethods require network traffic dedicated to clock synchronization and,therefore, consume power and bandwidth that is not used forcommunicating sensor commands or sensor data.

Embodiments of the present invention adjust clocks in network nodes tosynchronize the clocks with clocks in other network nodes and/or clocksin base stations, without relying on dedicated clock synchronizationcommunications. As discussed with respect to FIGS. 2 and 6-10, multiplenetwork packets may be broadcast during a single time slot. Networknodes that receive any of the network packets may use information abouttiming of receipt of the network packets, relative to when the nodeturned on its radio receiver, together with information about how manynetwork packets were broadcast, to synchronize their clocks with thebroadcasting node's clock.

FIG. 11 schematically depicts the time slot 1100 during which thenetwork packets 702-706 of the example above are broadcast by networknode N4. According to the broadcasting node's (N4) clock, the time slot1100 begins at time 1102. Assuming a maximum number of network packetsare broadcast, i.e., the time slot 1100 is full, according to the nodeN4 clock, the time slot ends at time 1104.

Recall that, to conserver power, each network node turns its radioreceiver on at the beginning of a time period during which it expectsother nodes to broadcast, or shortly therebefore, and the node turns itsradio receiver off at the end of the expected broadcast period, orshortly thereafter. If a receiving node receives all the network packets702-706, the receiving node's clock is reasonably synchronized with thebroadcasting node's clock. However, if the receiving node turns itsradio receiver on too late to receive the first one or more of thenetwork packets 702, 703, etc., the receiving node's clock is behind,and therefore not synchronized with, the broadcasting node's clock(i.e., the receiver's clock is “slow”). Similarly, if the receiving nodeturns off its radio receiver before all the network packets of the groupof network packets 702-706 are received, the receiving node's clock isahead of, and therefore not synchronized with, the broadcasting node'sclock (i.e., the receiver's clock is “fast”).

As discussed with respect to FIGS. 6 and 7, each network packet containsinformation sufficient to enable a receiving network node to calculatehow many network packets are in the series of network packets and thecurrent network packet's position, relative to the beginning of theseries of network packets. Based on the number of network packets anetwork node does not receive at the beginning of a series of networkpackets, the network node estimates by how much time the receivingnetwork node's clock is slow, and the network node adjusts its clock bythat amount of time. For example, if a hypothetical receiving node Aclock causes the node A to turn its radio receiver on at time 1106 andoff at time 1108, the node A receiving time period 1110 does notsufficiently match the broadcasting node's time slot 1100, consequentlynode A does not receive network packets 702 and 704. Node A calculatesthe number of missed network packets, i.e., two, and advances its slowclock by an amount of time sufficient to receive at least two networkpackets, thereby better synchronizing its clock with the broadcastingnode's clock.

Similarly, based on the number of network packets a network node doesnot receive at the end of a series of network packets, the network nodeestimates by how much time the receiving network node's clock is fast,and the network node adjusts its clock by that amount of time. Forexample, if a hypothetical receiving node B clock causes the node B toturn its radio receiver on at time 1112 and off at time 1114, the node Breceiving time period 1116 does not sufficiently match the broadcastingnode's time slot 1100, and node B does not receive network packet 706.Node B calculates the number of missed network packets, i.e., one, andretards its fast clock by an amount of time sufficient to receive atleast one network packet, thereby better synchronizing its clock withthe broadcasting node's clock.

Optionally or alternatively, the receiving node B may measure orestimate an amount of time 1118 its receiver was on before the firstnetwork packets 702 was received and retard its clock by about theamount of time 1118. Similarly, optionally or alternatively, thereceiving node A may measure or estimate an amount of time 1120 itsreceiver was on after the last network packets 706 was received andadvance its clock by about the amount of time 1120.

Each network node maintains, including synchronizing, time slot timinginformation for each other network node, from which the network node isexpected to receive a broadcast, i.e., its expected or possibleneighbors. As noted, in some contexts, each network node is expected tohave about three neighbor nodes on the same branch in each direction.Thus, in these contexts, each network node is expected to receivebroadcasts from about six other network nodes. Consequently, eachnetwork node should be able to maintain time slot timing informationabout six other nodes. Network nodes that are members of more than onebranch should maintain time slot timing information about six othernodes per branch.

Automatic Identification of Nearby Nodes and Clock Synchronization

Optionally or alternatively, nodes of a linear network may synchronizetheir respective clocks by exchanging messages for this purpose. Afour-phase clock synchronization protocol is described, with referenceto FIGS. 17, 18 and 19. FIG. 18 is divided between two sheets (FIGS. 18Aand 18B). As noted, each node has a relatively small number ofneighbors, typically about six, and each node periodically wakes inanticipation of receiving transmissions from its neighbors. Synchronizedclocks facilitate these communications. Network traffic flowing in onedirection along a branch, such as away from a base station, is handledseparately from network traffic flowing in the other direction.Consequently, a node may maintain synchronization with its neighbors onone side of the node separately from synchronization with its neighborson the other side. Furthermore, synchronized clocks facilitate nodesentering, and waking from, power-saver sleep states in synchrony withtheir neighbors, in time to receive broadcasts from its neighbors, intime to collect data with its sensor, etc.

Assume for purposes of explanation that node N5 (FIG. 27) is in wirelesscommunication range of nodes N6, N7 and N8 on one side, but that node N5either has not yet discovered nodes N6-N8 or node N5 needs to confirmits ability to wirelessly communicate directly with these nodes N6-N8.In discovering or confirming its neighbors on one side, node N5transmits packets that enable its neighbors on that side to synchronizetheir respective clocks with the clock of node N5, according to thefour-phase clock synchronization protocol. Node N5 is, of course,representative. Each node of a linear network may periodically oroccasionally follow the protocol to synchronize its upstream ordownstream neighbors' clocks to the node's clock.

FIG. 18 is a schematic timing diagram, with time progressing to theright, showing a hypothetical set of communications among the nodesN5-N8, according to the four-phase clock synchronization protocol.Assume the nodes N5-N8 operate on a 125 millisecond (msec.) wake-upcycle, although other wake-up cycle times may be used. During a firstphase 1800, node N5 transmits a set of time spaced-apart synchronizationpackets. Each synchronization packet is transmitted during acorresponding time slot 1-8. The eight transmissions are indicated byvertical arrows, represented by arrows 1802, 1804, 1806 and 1808.

Each synchronization message 1802-1808 contains an indicator of whichside of the transmitting node N5 is being synchronized. For example, theindicator may include the node identifier of node N5 and an indicationthat nodes having larger node identifiers, i.e., upstream nodes, arebeing synchronized. Recall that node identifiers are assigned to nodes,such that the node identifiers monotonically vary along a branch.

In the example of FIG. 18, eight time slots 1-8 are shown per 125 msec.cycle; however, other numbers of time slots may be used. Each time slot1-8 is assigned to a single potential respective receiving node. Theexample of FIG. 18 shows more time slots 1-8 than nodes N6-N8 thatreceive the transmissions. Thus, the time slots 1-8 could accommodateadditional nodes, such as nodes N9 and N10 (FIG. 17), if these nodeswere within wireless communication range of node N5. As noted, duringother times, such as nighttime, more nodes may be within wirelesscommunication range of node N5. Thus, the number of time slots 1-8 neednot equal the number of nodes N6-N8 that receive the synchronizationpacket transmissions 1802-1808.

The synchronization messages 1802-1808 contain information thatidentifies the time slots 1-8 and indicates which nodes are assigned towhich time slots. For example, time slots may be assigned to nodes N9and N10, in case these nodes are within wireless communication range.The order of the time slots need not correlate to the order of the nodeidentifiers assigned to the potential receiving nodes.

Times during which respective wireless receivers in nodes N6, N7 and N8are on are indicated by bars 1810, 1812 and 1814. Note that the “on”times 1810-1814 may not be well aligned with times at which thesynchronization packets are transmitted 1802-1808, indicating that theclocks in nodes N6-N8 are not well synchronized with the clock in nodeN5.

Assume each of nodes N6-N8 receives at least one of the eightsynchronization packet transmissions 1802-1808 directly from thetransmitting node N5, i.e., without the synchronization packet(s) beingforwarding by any other node. In this example, no other node, such asnode N9, on the same side of node N5 receives any of the synchronizationpacket transmissions 1802-1808. One or more other nodes, such as nodeN4, on the other side of the transmitting node N5 may receive one ormore of the synchronization packet transmissions 1802-1808, but theyignore these transmissions, because they are intended for nodes on theother side of node N5. The term “node that receives a synchronizationpacket transmission” does not include these other nodes.

Each node N6-N8 that receives a synchronization packet transmission1802-1808 identifies which of the time slots is assigned to the node.Recall that the eight time slots are assigned to eight potentialreceiving nodes, and information about the assignments is included inthe synchronization packets. Assume that node N6 is assigned time slot1, node N7 is assigned time slot 2 and node N8 is assigned time slot 5.

In response to receiving the synchronization packet transmission(s),during the second phase 1816, each node N6-N8 wirelessly transmits anacknowledgement packet, as indicated by arrows 1818, 1820 and 1822,during its assigned time slot. Each acknowledgement message includes thenode identifier of the respective transmitting node. Thus, the nodes N6,N7 and N8 collectively transmitting a plurality of transmittedacknowledgement messages 1818-1822.

Assume the synchronizing node N5 receives at least one of theacknowledgement messages 1818-1822. The synchronizing node N5prioritizes a set of the nodes N6-N8 whose acknowledgement messages werereceived. The prioritization is based at least in part on the networknode identifiers of the nodes whose acknowledgement messages werereceived by the synchronizing node N5. The priorities are assigned basedon distance from the synchronizing node N5, with higher priorities beingassigned to more distant nodes. Note that a measure of the distance fromthe synchronizing node N5 may be determined by calculating a differencebetween the node identifier of the synchronizing node N5 and the nodeidentifier of an acknowledging node N6-N8. This scheme favors forwardingmessages to most distant nodes, therefore making network hops as largeas possible.

Because the node identifiers are monotonically assigned, thesynchronizing node N5 can assume the node N8 with the largest nodeidentifier, among the nodes N6-N8 that send acknowledgement messages1818-1822, is furthest along the branch, i.e., furthest from thesynchronizing node N5. The synchronizing node N5 therefore assigns thehighest priority to node N8, the next highest priority to the next mostdistant node N7, etc. If the synchronizing node N5 were synchronizingclocks in nodes on the other side, or if the node identifiers decreasein a direction from node N5 to node N8, the priority assignment would bebased on the smallest node identifier, rather than the largest nodeidentifier.

During the third phase 1824, the synchronizing node N5 transmitsprioritizing packets to at least one of the nodes N6-N8 that wereprioritized, as indicated by arrows 1826, 1828 and 1830. Theprioritizing packets are transmitted during the respective time slots(1, 2 and 5) assigned to the intended receiving nodes N6-N8. Timesduring which respective wireless receivers in nodes N6, N7 and N8 are onare indicated by bars 1832, 1834 and 1836.

As a result of receiving transmissions from the synchronizing node N5during either the first phase 1800 or the third phase 1824, eachreceiving node N6-N8 adjusts its clock based on when, during the node'sreceiver “on” time 1810-1814 or 1832-1836, the transmission from thesynchronizing node N5 is received. For example, and along the linesdiscussed with respect to FIG. 11, if the transmission from thesynchronizing node N5 is received near the beginning of the receiver“on” time 1810-1814 or 1832-1836, the receiving node N6-N8 may considerits clock to be slow (late) and adjust its clock so as to turn itsreceiver on earlier. As a result, future transmissions from thesynchronizing node N5 should be received closer to the middle of thereceiving node's “on” time 1810-1814 or 1832-1836.

Optionally, during the fourth phase 1838, the synchronizing node N5transmits a request to confirm synchronization message 1840. Nodes N6-N8that receive the request to confirm synchronization message 1840acknowledge receipt by transmitting respective acknowledgement packets,as indicated by arrows 1842, 1844 and 1846. The nodes N6-N8 transmittheir respective acknowledgement packets in priority order. Thesynchronizing node N5 receives the acknowledgement packets and maintainsa list of synchronized nodes N6-N8, including their respectivepriorities.

A state diagram, shown schematically in FIG. 19, illustratessynchronization states of the nodes N5-N8 and transitions among thestates. As noted, each node maintains separate clock informationrelative to each neighbor. Thus, each node maintains a separatesynchronization state for each neighbor from which it expects to receivetransmissions. The following describes how each such synchronizationstate is maintained for one neighbor.

Upon startup, each node enters a “not synchronized” state 1900. Once anode, such as one of the nodes N6-N8, is synchronized with its neighbor,such as node N5 as discussed above, the node N5 enters a “synchronized”state 1902, with respect to the nodes (N6-N8) with which it hassynchronized. The node N5 may remain in the synchronized state 1902 fora predetermined amount of time or until an event occurs that shouldcause the node to re-synchronize its clock. The synchronizing node (suchas node N5) may periodically or occasionally send relatively smallsynchronizing packets, so its neighbors can maintain their respectiveclocks in synchrony with the synchronizing node's clock. However, if anode does not receive a synchronizing packet for a predetermined amountof time, the node enters a “re-synchronizing” state 1904. If a nodedetects a change in its neighborhood, i.e., more of fewer nodes areneighbors, the node enters the not synchronized state 1900 to establishnew synchronizations and priorities.

Periodically or occasionally, the node enters a “deep sleep” state 1906,in which it enters a power-saving mode for a relatively long period oftime. During deep sleep, the node's transmitter and receiver remain off,to conserve power. The duration of the deep sleep may be predetermined,based on considerations, such as charge level of the node's batteryand/or number of nodes in the network and/or in this node's branch.These considerations may be relevant to meeting a design objective, suchas enabling the network to transfer a desired number of commands and/ordata between one end of each branch and the other end of each branchwithin a prescribed amount of time, such as one day.

Over-the-Air Provisioning with Scheduled Implementation

Over the lifetime of network nodes of a sensor network, it may bedesirable or necessary to occasionally update parameters, such asnetwork node identifiers, power-saving sleep intervals, time slotallocations, start/stop times to collect sensor data or the like, and/orsoftware in the network nodes. It is often desirable or necessary toimplement such changes on all network nodes simultaneously or within apredetermined widow of time, such as to maintain consistency of networknode identifiers among the network nodes. However, especially onnetworks with long branches, times required to forward network packetsfrom one end of a branch to the other end of the branch may be too largeto affect the change on all impacted nodes simultaneously or within adesired window of time.

Embodiments of the present invention solve this problem by distributingmessages to the impacted network nodes or merely flooding the entirenetwork or branch with messages. Each message includes updateinformation, such as new software, an updated network node identifier orinstructions how to recalculate a node's identifier, and an indicationof a future time, at which the change should be implemented by the node.Each message may include a script to be executed by each impacted node.These messages may be sent by a base station or any other suitablesource of update commands. The message sender may send redundant copiesof the messages to each of the impacted nodes, in case some of themessages are dropped.

Each impacted node receives at least one of the messages destined to theimpacted node and stores the update information contained in themessage. Each impacted node sets an internal timer or uses anothersuitable mechanism to be notified at or before the future time,including being awoken from a power-saver sleep state, if necessary.When the network node is notified that the future time is present, thenetwork node makes the change, i.e., updates itself, using the storedupdate information.

In some cases, only certain network nodes should be updated. Forexample, only network nodes containing certain hardware components or acertain version of a hardware component or executing a certain versionof software, or an earlier version of the software, should be updated.In these cases, each message may include an indication of a type ofupdate, and each node checks the type of update to determine whether theupdate applies to the node. If the node conforms to the type of update,the node implements the update as described above. Optionally oralternatively, each node stores the update information only if the nodeconforms to the type of update.

Health and Welfare Information Piggybacking on Other Network Traffic

In many situations, it is desirable or necessary to obtain network nodehealth and welfare information from network nodes, such as sensorstatus, batter charge level, energy harvester production, wirelesssignal-to-noise ratio, number of other nodes within wireless radiorange, effective bandwidth to neighboring nodes and the like. However,as noted, it is desirable or necessary to conserve electrical power andnetwork bandwidth.

To avoid sending separate health and welfare network packets(hereinafter referred to simply as network status information), someembodiments include this kind of information in network packets thatcarry commands and/or data. FIG. 12 schematically depicts a hypotheticalexemplary scenario according to such an embodiment. A node N8 collectsand stores network status information 1200 until the node receives anetwork packet 1202 being forwarded in a direction in which the networkstatus information 1200 should be sent and which has sufficient freespace to contain some or all of the network status information 1200. Thenode N8 stores the network status information 1204, or a portionthereof, in the network packet, thereby producing a modified networkpacket 1206. The node N8 then broadcasts the modified network packet1206, to forward the modified network packet 1206 on its route.

Once the modified network packet 1206 arrives at its destination, suchas at a base station 1208, if the network status information 1204 isdestined to the same destination, the network status information 1204 isdelivered. Otherwise, the network status information 1204 may be storedby the receiving node until another network packet suitable fortransporting the network status information 1204 further along its routeis received.

In some embodiments, the transporting network packets carry sensorcommands and/or sensor data and are not network packets createdspecifically for carrying network status information. Such networkpackets are, therefore, devoid of any network status information beforea node adds stored network status information to the packet, asdescribed herein.

Network packets necessarily have limited space, sometimes no space, fornetwork status information. In some cases, two or more network nodes ona branch concurrently have network status information to send, but spaceavailable in a network packet may be insufficient to accommodate all, orin some cases more than one, of the nodes. Some embodiments prioritizetransportation of network status information, such as based onsignificance of the network status information, according to apredetermined, even arbitrary, comparison scheme.

For example, one node's network status information may contain routinehistorical information, such as a number of samples taken to date by thenode's sensor, whereas another node's network status information mayindicate the node's battery charge is critically low. The historicalinformation may be deemed less significant than the battery statusinformation.

In some embodiments, as a network packet carrying network statusinformation transits a network node, if the network node stores networkstatus information to be sent in the same direction as the networkpacket is begin forwarded, and the network status information stored bythe transit node is more significant, according to a predeterminedcomparison scheme, than the network status information currently in thenetwork packet, the transit node stores its network status informationin the network packet, displacing, if necessary, the network statusinformation currently in the network packet.

Network Branches

As noted with respect to FIG. 1, a linear network includes one or morebranches. Network nodes that are common between or among multiplebranches have multiple network node identifiers, one for each branch.FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary hypothetical network node identifierscheme for linear network 102 of FIG. 1. As noted, the linear network102 includes three branches 116, 118 and 120.

All being members of branch 116, nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. are assignednetwork identifiers that include an indication of their branch. Forexample, node 1 is assigned network identifier B1-1, node 2 is assignednetwork identifier B1-2, etc., where B1 signifies the branch 116.According to this scheme, nodes 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. are assigned networknode identifiers that increase monotonically along the branch 116, in adirection away from the base node 130, from one end of the branch 116 tothe other end of the branch 116.

All being members of branch 118, nodes 1, 10, 11, 12, etc. are assignednetwork identifiers that include an indication of their branch. Forexample, node 1 is assigned network identifier B2-1, node 10 is assignednetwork identifier B2-2, node 11 is assigned network identifier B2-3,etc., where B2 signifies the branch 118. According to this scheme, nodes1, 10, 11, 12, etc. are assigned network node identifiers that increasemonotonically along the branch 118, in a direction away from the basenode 130, from one end of the branch 118 to the other end of the branch118.

All being members of branch 120, nodes 1, 10, 11, 20, 21, 22, etc. areassigned network identifiers that include an indication of their branch.For example, node 1 is assigned network identifier B3-1, node 10 isassigned network identifier B3-2, node 11 is assigned network identifierB3-3, node 20 is assigned network identifier B3-4, node 21 is assignednetwork identifier B3-5, etc., where B3 signifies the branch 120.According to this scheme, nodes 1, 10, 11, 20, 21, 22, etc. are assignednetwork node identifiers that increase monotonically along the branch120, in a direction away from the base node 130, from one end of thebranch 120 to the other end of the branch 120.

Note that nodes 1, 10 and 11 have multiple network identifiers. Asnoted, each network node stores a representation of its respectivenetwork node identifier, such as in a memory. When these nodes receivenetwork packets and perform network packet routing, as discussed withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the nodes use the stored representations oftheir respective network node identifiers that are associated with thebranch, over which the network packets are received. The branch, overwhich a given network packet is received, can be identified by thenetwork node identifier, such as the B1, B2 or B3 portion of the networknode identifier, of the node that broadcast the network packet. Eachnetwork node that is a member of more than one branch may maintaininformation about each such branch. The information may include networkidentifiers of neighboring nodes on the branch that are within radiocommunication range.

Network Segmentation to Increase Network Size, while Reducing PowerConsumption

As discussed, low duty cycle wireless communication protocols are usedto conserve electrical power largely by keeping network nodes inpower-saver sleeps state most of the time. However, if network nodes arerequired to transfer data they collect to a base station within apredetermined amount of time, such as 24 hours, or commands from thebase station need to be delivered to their destination network nodeswithin a predetermined amount of time, the length (in number of nodes)of each network branch is limited by the number of hops that can occurwithin the predetermined amount of time. Conventional low duty cyclewireless communication protocols, such as the ContikiMAC radio dutycycling protocol, can support only a relatively small number of nodes ina network branch, because the total amount of time the nodes are awakeand able to receive and send network packets from and to other nodeslimits the number of hops that can occur during a given time period,such as 24 hours.

Embodiments of the present invention improve on conventional low dutycycle wireless communication protocols by dividing a given linear sensornetwork into two or more network segments and associating each networksegment with a distinct time slot. As a result, communications may occurin parallel in multiple network segments, without one network segment'scommunications interfering with communications on another networksegment. This is particularly important in an area proximate the basestation, where nodes of several network segments may be within radiorange of each other.

FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of a hypothetical wireless sensornetwork 1400 having a base station 1402 and “p” network segments (fourshown) 1404, 1406, 1408 and 1410. As used herein, a network segmentincludes all network nodes that can send and receive network packets toand from each other, directly or via only other network nodes of thesame network segment, without passing through a base station or anetwork node of another network segment. The base station may beconsidered part of each network segment. However if, in order to route anetwork packet, the base station must receive the network packet from afirst network node and then send the network packet to another networknode, the other network node is not on the same network segment as thefirst network node.

Each network segment includes at least one network branch. For example,network segment 1404 includes three network branches 1412, 1414 and1416. Each of the other three shown network branches 1406-1410 includesonly one network branch 1418, 1420 and 1422, respectively.

According to embodiments of the present invention, each network segment1404-1410 is assigned a distinct time slot during which network nodes ofthe network segment may broadcast. Although network nodes, such asnetwork nodes 100, 105, 110, 200, 205, 300, 305, 310, p00 and p05, nearthe base station end of each network segment may be within radio rangeof each other, their broadcasts do not interfere with broadcasts bynetwork nodes in each other's network segments, because when networknodes of one network segment broadcast, radio receivers of network nodesin other network segments near the base station 1402 are off.

Each network segment's time slot marks the beginning of a longer timeperiod referred to as a “time interval.” Exemplary hypothetical timeinterval 1502 and time slot 1500 for network segment 1404 (FIG. 14) areschematically illustrated in FIG. 15. Each time slot 1500 is dividedinto three time periods 1504, 1506 and 1508. A remainder of the timeinterval 1502 is referred to as a long sleep period 1510. The first timeperiod 1504 is subdivided into a plurality of first sub-slots (sub timeslots) 1512, and the third time period 1508 is subdivided into aplurality of second sub-slots (sub time slots) 1514. As shown in FIG.15, each sub-slot 1512 and 1514 may be time-spaced apart from itsadjacent sub-slot(s) or, alternatively as shown lower in FIG. 15, thesub-slots may be contiguous.

During each of the first sub-slots 1512, network nodes of the networksegment 1404 may broadcast for the purpose of forwarding network packetsin a direction away from the base station 1402, and during each of thesecond sub-slots 1514, network nodes of the network segment 1404 maybroadcast for the purpose of forwarding network packets in a directiontoward the base station 1402.

During the second time period 1506, the network nodes of the networksegment 1404 may operate their respective sensors to sense data andstore sensed data. The network nodes may operate continuously during thesecond period 1506, or they may periodically or occasionally enterpower-saving sleep states. If respective ones of the network nodes ofthe network segment 1404 are not assigned to collect data during a giventime period, the nodes may enter a power-saver sleep state during thesecond time period 1506. During the long sleep period 1510, the nodes ofthe network segment 1404 enter power-saver sleep states.

Note that FIG. 15 is not drawn to scale. The long sleep time period 1510is much longer than the time slot 1500. Consequently, the nodes of thenetwork segment 1404 are in power-saver sleep states over 99% of thetime. According to embodiments of the present invention, the nodes ofthe network segment 1404 are in power-saver sleep states a greaterfraction of the time than in prior art low power radio duty cyclingprotocols. As a result, the nodes of the network segment 1404 have poweravailable to wake more frequently during the first and second timeperiods 1504 and 1508 than in prior art low power radio duty cyclingprotocols. Being able to wake more frequently enables the nodes of thenetwork segment 1404 to handle more hops over the course of a given timeperiod, such as 24 hours, than is possible using prior art low powerradio duty cycling protocols. Consequently, these embodiments of thepresent invention can support longer (in terms of numbers of networknodes) branches than prior art low power radio duty cycling protocols.

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram illustrating hypothetical timings of timeintervals for respective network segments 1404-1410 (FIG. 14). As can beseen in FIG. 16, start times of time intervals 1502, 1600, 1602, . . . ,1604 are staggered, so as to prevent broadcasts by network nodes of onenetwork segment interfering with broadcasts by network nodes of anyother network segment. For example, duration 1606 of the stagger is atleast as long as a time slot, such as Time slot 1 1500. The timeintervals 1502-1604 repeat.

In an embodiment, the time slots, time intervals and sub-slots areselected to enable a linear network of at least 1,000,000 network nodesto forward at least one command network packet from the base station tothe last network node on each branch, and to forward at least one sensordata packet from the last network node on each branch to the basestation, all within a 24-hour period. Such a network is likely torequire a relatively large number of branches, in some cases about 1,000branches.

Methods and apparatus, as described herein, may simultaneously operateat multiple radio frequencies (channels) to increase bandwidth.

IEEE 802.15.4 is a standard that specifies physical layer and mediaaccess control (MAC) for low-rate wireless personal area networks(LR-WPANs). IEEE 802.15.4 is the basis for the ZigBee, ISA100.11a,WirelessHART and MiWi specifications, each of which further extends thestandard by developing upper layers, which are not defined in IEEE802.15.4. Alternatively, IEEE 802.15.4 can be used with the 6LoWPANprotocol and standard internet protocols to build a wireless embeddedinternet. 6LoWPAN enables the transmission of IPv6 packets over wirelesssensor networks based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. 6LoWPAN definesencapsulation and header compression mechanisms that allow IPv6 packetsto be sent to, and received from, IEEE 802.15.4 based networks. IPv4 andIPv6 are regularly used for data delivery over local area networks,metropolitan area networks and wide-area networks, such as the Internet.Likewise, IEEE 802.15.4 devices can provide sensing communicationcapabilities in wireless domains. Embodiments of the present inventionaugment and/or modify aspects of 6LoWPAN and other protocols.

While the invention is described through the above-described exemplaryembodiments, modifications to, and variations of, the illustratedembodiments may be made without departing from the inventive conceptsdisclosed herein. Furthermore, disclosed aspects, or portions thereof,may be combined in ways not listed above and/or not explicitly claimed.Accordingly, the invention should not be viewed as being limited to thedisclosed embodiments.

Although aspects of embodiments may be described with reference toflowcharts and/or block diagrams, functions, operations, decisions, etc.of all or a portion of each block, or a combination of blocks, may becombined, separated into separate operations or performed in otherorders. All or a portion of each block, or a combination of blocks, maybe implemented as computer program instructions (such as software),hardware (such as combinatorial logic, Application Specific IntegratedCircuits (ASICs), Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) or otherhardware), firmware or combinations thereof.

FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram of a network node 2000, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The node 2000 includes awireless transceiver 2004, a clock 2004, at least one sensor 2006 and amemory 2008, as discussed herein. The memory 2008 may be used to storeinformation, such as a network node identifier 2010 of the node 2000,node update information 2012, network status information 2014 andneighbor synchronization information 2016. The network node 2000 alsoincludes a synchronization message generator 2018 that generatessynchronization messages, as discussed with respect to FIG. 18. A datacollector/sender 2020 handles the sensor 2006, stores data collectedfrom the sensor 2006 as needed, and sends all or some of the collecteddata, such as toward a base station.

A received packet handler 2024 handles tasks, such as forwarding networkpackets, as discussed herein, including fragmenting large packets asneeded. A forwarding node selector 2024 selects a node to forwardpackets to, such as described with respect to FIGS. 2-5. A make-uppacket identifier/sender 2026 identifies make-up packets that should besent to other nodes and sends the make-up packets, such as describedwith respect to FIG. 10.

A clock synchronizer 2028 adjusts the clock 2004, as necessary tomaintain synchrony with other nodes, such as described with respect toFIGS. 11 and 18-19. The clock synchronizer 2028 may also maintainsynchronization status information about neighbor nodes. A time slotmanager 2030 and a sub-time slot manager 2032 control when the node 2000transmits and receives, as discussed with respect to FIGS. 15, 16 and18. An acknowledgement message generator 2034 generates acknowledgementmessages, such as those sent after receiving a last sequential packet,to indicate which nodes have received a broadcast and for synchronizingclocks.

A node prioritizer 2036 prioritizes nodes, such as discussed withrespect to FIG. 18. A node updater 2038 handles node updates, such as bystoring the update information 2012 in the memory 2008 and applying theupdate information 2012 when triggered by the clock 2004. A networkstatus information manager 2040 handles forwarding network statusinformation along a branch.

Embodiments may be implemented by a processor executing, or controlledby, instructions stored in a memory. The memory may be random accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory or any other memory,or combination thereof, suitable for storing control software or otherinstructions and data.

Instructions defining the functions of the present invention may bedelivered to a processor in many forms, including, but not limited to,information permanently stored on tangible non-writable storage media(e.g., read-only memory devices within a computer, such as ROM, ordevices readable by a computer I/O attachment, such as CD-ROM or DVDdisks), information alterably stored on tangible writable storage media(e.g., floppy disks, removable flash memory and hard drives) orinformation conveyed to a computer through a communication medium,including wired or wireless computer networks. Moreover, whileembodiments may be described in connection with various illustrativedata structures, systems may be embodied using a variety of datastructures.

What is claimed is:
 1. In a wireless linear network comprising a firstnode, a plurality of second nodes proximate the first node and aplurality of additional nodes, all arranged along a branch, wherein eachnode comprises a wireless transmitter and a wireless receiver and has anode identifier, the node identifiers monotonically varying along thebranch, a method for the first node to automatically identify theplurality of second nodes, the method comprising: the first nodewirelessly broadcasting a plurality of time spaced-apart synchronizationmessages, the plurality of synchronization messages containinginformation about a plurality of transmit time slots and, for eachtransmit time slot of the plurality of transmit time slots, informationabout a single respective potential second node to which the transmittime slot is assigned; each second node of the plurality of second nodesreceiving at least one of the plurality of synchronization messagesdirectly from the first node; each second node identifying which one ofthe plurality of transmit time slots is assigned to the second node;each second node, in response to receiving the at least one of theplurality of synchronization messages, wirelessly transmitting, duringits assigned transmit time slot, an acknowledgement message thatincludes the second node's identifier, the plurality of second nodesthereby collectively transmitting a plurality of transmittedacknowledgement messages; the first node receiving at least oneacknowledgement message of the plurality of transmitted acknowledgementmessages; and the first node prioritizing a set of the plurality ofsecond nodes whose acknowledgement messages were received by the firstnode, the prioritization being based at least in part on the identifiersof the second nodes whose acknowledgement messages were received by thefirst node.
 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein each second nodecomprises a clock, the method further comprising each second node:adjusting the second node's clock, based on timing of receipt by thesecond node of the at least one of the plurality of synchronizationmessages; and using the clock to control when to turn on the secondnode's wireless receiver and when to turn off the wireless receiver. 3.A method according to claim 1, wherein each second node comprises aclock, the method further comprising each second node: adjusting thesecond node's clock, based on timing of receipt by the second node ofthe at least one of the plurality of synchronization messages; and usingthe clock to control when the second node enters a sleep state and whenthe second node wakes from the sleep state.
 4. A method according toclaim 1, wherein prioritizing the set of second nodes comprises, foreach second node of the set of second nodes, assigning a priority to thesecond node based on a difference between the second node's identifierand the first node's identifier, such that a second node with a largerdifference is assigned a higher priority than a second node with asmaller difference.
 5. A method according to claim 4, furthercomprising, for each second node in the set of second nodes, the firstnode wirelessly transmitting a prioritization message, theprioritization message containing the priority assigned to the secondnode.
 6. A method according to claim 5, further comprising: aftertransmitting the prioritization message, the first node transmitting asynchronization confirmation request message; and in response toreceiving the synchronization confirmation request message, each secondnode in the set of second nodes transmitting a synchronizationacknowledgement message during a respective time slot associated withthe priority assigned to the second node.
 7. A method according to claim1, further comprising the first node storing, in a memory, informationabout each second node in the set of second nodes, the informationcomprising the node identifier of the second node and the priorityassigned to the second node.